Is there a connection between the progressive era and the 1886 progressive income tax introduced by the middle person (and Hapsburg Finance Minister) of the Menger/Böhm-Bawerk/Mises tradition?
RL
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Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 5:23:00 PM
Subject: Re: [SHOE] allusion to Pareto
Malcolm,
the association of Progressivism with Fascism does not require a Whiggish interpretation -- if one accepts your dating of the intellectual roots of Fascism as the 1880s, then it coincides with the emergence of the first Progressive Era (although, if one accepts that, at some level at least, the Progressives emerged from the ruins of Populism, that lineage stretches back even further); if one takes the beginnings of the Fascist movement as 1921 or thereabouts, then it emerges near the end of the first Progressive Era, and offers a glimpse into the second. Either way, and whatever the direction of intellectual transmission, such ideas were freely discussed.
Yes, there are indeed commonalities, but remember, this discussion (such as it has become) began with the attribution of Fascist leanings to Pareto, and quickly devolved into an accusation against Hayek. By the time it reached the Progressives, it seems as though we achieved at least five degrees of separation. Typically the game ends at six, I have been told!
CM
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